Use a high-quality chocolate for coating the ice-cream balls as inferior chocolate won't coat as quickly or neatly. You'll need to begin this recipe a day ahead.

For panforte ice-cream, bring milk, cream, vanilla and orange rind just to the boil in a saucepan. Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl until pale and creamy. Add milk mixture, stir to combine, then return to pan and stir over medium heat until mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon thickly (6-8 minutes). Pour into a heatproof bowl placed over ice, stir occasionally until chilled (15-20 minutes), then stir through sherry. Freeze in an ice-cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions, then fold through panforte and freeze until firm (2-4 hours). Place a tray lined with baking paper in the freezer, scoop balls of ice-cream with a melon-baller onto tray, then freeze until very firm (3-4 hours).

Meanwhile, melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat, cool slightly, then working quickly with one ice-cream ball at a time, coat balls in chocolate and return them to the freezer (if chocolate becomes too thick, gently melt again). Freeze ice-cream balls until very firm (3-4 hours), then serve.